Where To Start

There’s no rule to say that you need a ring to propose. Maybe you’d like to choose the engagement ring together, in which case you could pop the question with a bottle of champagne and the promise of going ring shopping together later. If you’d like to have something to present her with when you ask the question, one of our proposal rings could be a good option. A collection of beautiful sterling silver and cubic zirconia rings, they are available in a range of stunning designs and can help take the pressure off choosing a ring she’ll wear forever until you can find it together. We’ll also refund the cost of the proposal ring when you buy your engagement ring with us.

Before you start shopping for the ring, take note of what style jewellery she prefers to wear. For example, does she prefer silver or gold tones, is her style classic or vintage and does she like simple styles or lots of sparkle? If she’s been dropping hints about the diamond she’d love to have, you could take pictures or screenshots to either bring in to store or to help inform your search online.

Another great tip is to speak to her family and friends. They’ll be able to give you a great insight into the style of jewellery she loves and if there’s anything you should avoid – just make sure you swear them to secrecy first.

We love telling you about the little details that makes every diamond unique. A great way to learn about diamonds is to book an appointment at your local store where we can give you all the information you need to help you find your perfect engagement ring. Our Diamond Buying Guide will also give you a great overview of Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat.

The amount of engagement ring styles on offer can be quite daunting when you first start shopping for your engagement ring. Our Engagement Ring Buying Guide will give you an insight in to what styles are available to help you narrow down your search or, if you’d like to book an appointment in-store, we can show you a selection of different styles to help you decide which one’s perfect for you. If you’re shopping online, you can also chat to one of our Customer Service team via our Live Chat if you feel you need a bit of extra help.

The setting of your diamond has a huge effect on the overall style of your engagement ring. For example, a halo setting creates a vintage style whilst a three-stone setting can appear more traditional. You can read about the choices of settings in our Engagement Ring Buying Guide, or book an appointment with us in-store to experience them in person.

This is a completely personal choice and, despite the traditional rule of thumb that an engagement ring should cost two or even three months salary, there are no definitive rules about how much you should spend on your engagement ring.

We think it’s a good idea to decide how much you’d be happy to spend before you start looking. Lots of factors will affect the price of your engagement ring such as the carat weight of the diamond, the type of setting, as well as the metal the band is made from. Before you start shopping for your engagement ring, decide which is the most important detail for you and go from there. For example, if size matters, you could investigate whether an 18ct gold band makes a higher carat weight diamond more affordable than a platinum band.

Regardless of price, every curve and every detail of our engagement rings have been meticulously inspected to ensure perfection. For us it’s about attention to detail, and about classic styling that will last however much you want to pay.

Diamond Know-How

No, you don’t need to be a diamond expert to buy a beautiful engagement ring. We won’t bombard you with technical information, and will tell you as much or as little as you want to know to help you find your perfect diamond. However, if you want to brush up on your diamond know-how, you can read our Diamond Buying Guide or chat to us in-store or via Live Chat online.

The universal method of assessing the quality and value of any diamond, the 4 C’s refer to the Cut, Colour, Clarity and Carat Weight of a diamond. Brush up on your diamond knowledge with our Diamond Buying Guide.

The most important of the 4 C’s, it’s the cut that releases the inner beauty of a diamond. Incredibly complex and difficult to analyse, the quality of the cut will determine the final look of the diamond and especially the amount of sparkle. You can read more about diamond cut in our Diamond Buying Guide.

Most diamonds will have some sort of inclusions or blemishes. Inclusions can be structural imperfections or black specs of carbon within the diamond, whereas blemishes are defects which appear on the surface of a diamond. The overall clarity of a diamond is assessed based on the number, location and visibility of these characteristics. Even though a diamond may have some small inclusions, many of these will not be visible unless looking at the stone under 10x magnification. You can read more about diamond clarity in our Diamond Buying Guide.

Often confused with size, diamond carat is the measure of how much a diamond weighs. Diamonds with a higher carat weight are more valuable, as larger diamonds are very rare. You can read more about diamond carat weight in our Diamond Buying Guide.

Diamonds are actually graded by their lack of colour. A chemically pure and structurally perfect diamond will be totally transparent and completely colourless. Most diamonds have a slight yellow colour, and are graded from D to Z on a scale which ranges from completely colourless (D) to a light yellow tint (Z). You can read more about diamond colour in our Diamond Buying Guide.

Of all the 4 C’s we hold the cut of a diamond in the highest regard. This is because it’s only the cut which can release the true beauty of a diamond. For this reason, we only work with exceptional diamond cutters, whose skill and artistry can ensure that your diamond truly sparkles. You can read more about diamond cut in our Diamond Buying Guide.

Buying The Ring

Booking an appointment at one of our stores is a great way to start your search for your engagement ring. You can book your appointment online very easily and can make a specific engagement ring appointment to speak to one of our Diamond Experts.

There are several ways you can pay for your engagement ring. We accept payment via Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard, American Express and PayPal. We also offer Interest Free Credit which is available in payment terms from 6 months to 4 years.

If you’ve got your heart set on surprising your other half with a romantic proposal, the last thing you want is for her to find out about your plans by accident. These are our top tips on how to buy an engagement ring in secret:

1. Clear your search history

If you’ve been busy Googling engagement rings on a shared computer or tablet, cover your tracks and clear your search history.

2. Turn off targeted ads

Targeted ads are pretty much everywhere these days. Whatever website you’ve been on, it will most probably show up on the next webpage you view. So even if you’ve been on an engagement ring website and cleared your search history immediately, the next website someone goes on will see an advert for engagement rings. Which is a bit of a giveaway…

3. Don’t use a shared email address

If and when you’re asking for advice on engagement ring buying, or when you’re purchasing the ring, make sure it’s not a shared email address you offer up - or any email that they have access to.

Whether you go engagement ring shopping together or not is a very personal choice. It’s a great option if you’re really not sure what kind of ring she’d like and it can be a lovely experience to choose your engagement ring together. If you’d still like to do the surprise proposal, you could opt for one of our Proposal Rings to pop the question with, before booking an appointment at one of our stores to choose her dream diamond.

You’ll hear lots of rules about how much to spend on an engagement ring when you first start looking around. However, despite the traditional rule of thumb that an engagement ring should cost two or even three months salary, we believe that there should be no rules about how much you should spend. For us it’s about attention to the little details, and about finding a diamond you fall in love with however much you want to pay.

Your engagement ring is probably the most significant piece of jewellery you’ll every buy and so it deserves to be looked after. Taking out separate insurance for your engagement ring will give you peace of mind, and is the safest way to ensure it’s protected against loss, theft and accidental damage. You can arrange for your engagement ring to be insured at any of our stores and you can read more about our Jewellery and Watch Insurance here.

You don’t have to spend more than you can afford to get an engagement ring that she’ll fall in love with. Here are our top tips on how to buy an engagement ring on a budget:

1. Get creative with the setting

Don’t worry if your budget won’t stretch to the big diamond you’ve been dreaming of, get creative and choose a halo setting which can create the illusion of more carats. Featuring a halo of smaller stones around the central diamond, this type of setting makes the diamond look bigger and will give your engagement ring a beautiful vintage look.

2. Opt for more diamonds

This may seem counterintuitive, but choosing more smaller diamonds can create just as much sparkle as a big diamond for less cost. Think about choosing an engagement ring with a cluster setting or go for a smaller central stone accentuated with a diamond set band to make your engagement ring even more glamorous within your budget.

3. Add some colour

Just because it’s traditional doesn’t mean that your engagement ring has to be a diamond solitaire. Often associated with a special meaning, choosing a coloured gemstone for your engagement ring can send a very personal and sentimental message. Opting for a diamond halo setting can make your choice of coloured gemstone even more special without the price tag of a big diamond.

4. Go for gold

Not as rare as platinum and so less expensive, gold is a beautiful choice for an engagement ring and has been seen as a symbol of luxury for centuries. Available in both 9ct and 18ct, you can also choose from white, rose or yellow gold which gives you plenty of options when it comes to making your engagement ring unique.

5. Be a matchmaker

An option which might not be possible if you’re buying the ring as a surprise, you can make some good savings when buying the engagement ring and wedding band together as a bridal set. Offering the added bonus of being perfectly matched for one another, bridal sets are also a great consideration if you have your heart set on an engagement ring which will require a shaped wedding ring to sit alongside it.

There’s no need to buy your wedding rings at the same time as your engagement ring. However, there may be instances when you’d want to consider the wedding ring at the same time. For example, Bridal Sets can offer a saving over buying the engagement ring and wedding ring separately. If the engagement ring you’ve got your heart set on is particularly intricate, you may also want to consider a shaped wedding ring to sit perfectly alongside it, or you could consider our Diamonds and Silhouettes collection which showcases a range of diamond engagement and wedding rings that are designed to look perfect together. Also, if you are shopping for the engagement ring together, trying it on with a wedding band could help you make the final decision as they both need to sit well together.

Her personal style will help with this. If she wears yellow toned metal then go for gold or maybe even rose gold for a bit of a vintage twist. If silver coloured jewellery is her go-to choice, then opt for either platinum or white gold. You can read more about the different types of metal in our Engagement Ring Buying Guide.

Perhaps the most stressful aspect of choosing an engagement ring, finding out what ring size she is can be quite a challenge – especially if you want your proposal to be a surprise. Our Ring Size Guide can give you plenty of tips on getting the ring size right.

Sometimes the tiniest details make all the difference, which is why our attention to detail doesn’t just start and end with the diamond itself. We think it’s essential that we give you our own personal endorsement of our Beaverbrooks diamonds, which is why we only ever issue our own Diamond Certificate for the diamonds we personally hand select. Your Diamond Certificate will include an expert diamond grading report specific to your diamond and is a guarantee of its quality.

If you are buying a Maple Leaf Diamonds or a Hearts on Fire ring, these will come with a branded certificate which will give you details of the cut, colour, clarity and carat weight of your diamond.

Ring sizes are measured on an alphabetical scale from A-Z with half sizes in-between. Size A is the smallest and Z 1/2 is the largest. In the UK, the average size engagement ring tends to be around size M-N.

We normally stock our ladies engagement rings in sizes I-R and our gents engagement rings in P-X, but if you can’t find the ring size you need, just call into any of our stores or speak to our Customer Services team and we will do our best to order your size for you.

Read our Ring Size Guide for more information on how to know your ring size.

Just like the decision on how much to spend on an engagement ring, the size of the diamond is very much a personal choice. There are traditions around buying engagement rings with 1/3, 1/2, or 1 carat diamonds, but we think the most important choice is to find a diamond that you fall in love with. Watch our film to find out more.

The Proposal

Although proposing is a big deal, it doesn’t always have to be about the grand, sweeping gestures. Most importantly it’s the little things about a proposal, the things that make it unique and special for both of you, that make it a perfect moment. From low-key gestures to steal-the-limelight statements, you can read about our top ten favourite proposal ideas in our Proposal Guide.

It’s probably the most important question you’ll ever ask, so it’s a good idea to be as prepared as you can be when thinking about what you’re going to say when you’re down on one knee. Our top tips for the day of the proposal are:

Take deep breaths. Stay calm and remember you should enjoy this special moment just as much as your loved one.

Raise a glass. Have the champagne ready for celebrating afterwards and make a toast to your new chapter.

Take a selfie. Don’t forget to take an engagement selfie afterwards, so you can always look back at the day they said “yes!”. Read our blog post on How to take the perfect engagement selfie, for more top tips.

Don’t fall at the final hurdle! Once you’ve found the perfect engagement ring and you have a solid proposal plan underway, all that’s left to do is keep the ring hidden from any prying eyes. Here are some top tips for how to hide your engagement ring the night before the proposal.

Aim high. On top of kitchen cupboards, in the attic, at the back of a high shelf.

Take it elsewhere. Consider temporarily keeping it at a friend’s or family member’s house.

A place they’d never go. A laptop/work bag, in a suitcase, in an underwear drawer… the options are endless.

Don’t worry, if you find that the engagement ring isn’t exactly right, there are some things we can help you with:

What if the size is wrong?

No problem at all. Return it unworn, and we’ll exchange it for a size that fits perfectly. You can either get their fingered measured in-store by one of our experts, or use our Ring Size Guide. Some of our engagement rings can also be resized, depending on the style.

Can an engagement ring be exchanged?

Whatever the reason, if you decide you want to exchange your engagement ring, just return it to us unworn and we’ll happily exchange it for a different one.

Can I get a refund on an engagement ring?

Yes, if you need to return your engagement ring, just bring it back to us unworn and we will arrange a refund for you. You can read our Returns Policy in more detail here.

Depending on their style, it’s possible for some of our engagement rings to be resized. For those that we are not able to resize, we will try our best to source a ring in the right size for you. If you’re not sure whether your engagement ring can be resized, you can ask in any of our stores, or speak to someone in our Customer Services Team on 0800 169 2329 or via our Live Chat.

The tradition of getting down on one knee when proposing dates back to the olden days of Knighthood. In those days, a knight would kneel to show respect allegiance and loyalty - so it seems a natural thing to do when making a marriage proposal.

Convention dictates that your left knee should be on the ground, the ring box should be in your left hand, and the box should be opened with your right hand.